Roofing and siding material.



J. R. POWELL & B.. G. CASLBR.

ROOFING AND SIDING MATERIAL. APIfLIoATIoN FILED` APxLao, 191s.

1, 1 14,032, Patented Oct. l2o, 1914.

"in i).

Guozmu UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' JOHN R. POWELL, 0F WAUKEGKAN, ILLINOIS, AND BENJAMIN G. CASLER, `0F TONA.-

I WANDA, NEW YORK.

BOOENG AND SIDING MATERIAL.

Specication ot4 Letters Patent.

Application led April 30, 1913.- Serial N o. 764,577.

' tain new and useful Improvements in Roofing and Sidin Material; and we do hereby declare the fo owino' to be a full, clear, and exact description ofP the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichy .it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to the production of that class of l manufactures, commonly termed construction material, wherein one or .more plies of roofing-felt or similar material is saturated with a Waterproof substance and coated with asphalt or its equivL alent tovrender it waterproof, and then surfaced with mica, slate, sand, gravel or'like heat resisting material to produce a building fabric having a fire resisting wearing surface. This class-of lbuilding material has heretofore been reduced in several ways, for example,l by evelopment on the `roof or in like position where applied, and also in vthe form of nished articles of trade, as for instance, inthe form of surfaced roofing and` siding sheets, shingles, tiles. and the like individual` articles.

Our present invention relates especially to this latter form of construction material, that is to say, the finished article of trade, and more particularly to that class wherein the heat and wear-reslsting surfaced portions ln the production of .the sh1ngle, tileor i. f

of the fabric, or construction material are so related as to simulatea shinglel or tes-.-

sellated structure or surface. 0 Heretofore this particular class of constructmn material has possessed either.. the ultimate fractional.

form or the unit ofv design,;a s for instance, havin v.the appearance and dimensions@ a ching e or tile, or theextended' characterf ,such as sheet or integer, the surface .of which is made like unit or fractional form of'y the construction material a previpusly'ff" epared saturated an .havingg'an a `esive or be' coating of asphaltum4 and arlayer covering yof .grit or its equivalent heat and .weerfvresistin' surface, 1s severed into shingle or c integer o up of a multiple of the unitsI of;

sired, or is severed at intervals .bly kerfing, if

thestrip is to simply simulate s nlgles, and when so dproduced the trade artic e is unwarrante y expensive in the manufacture and marketing thereof lacks durability in service by reason of the severed ed e eX- pofsure of the fabric, absorption ofpmoisture, and the curling of the edges under the action of the heat and suns rays. Moreover, in the ca se ofthe kerfed strip' the construction material is greatly weakened and undergoes ra id deterioration.

n the roduction of the sheet forni or multiple units the method of production practised has been to ap ly to the saturated and asphaltum coated s eetA a uniform or continuous layer or covering of grit or equivalent heat and wear resistin surfacin and to4 apply to portions of said grit oreat and wear resisting surface a superposed coating of asphaltum,l in such vPatented Oct. 20, 1914.

forms o-r outlines as to produce copi/'masts Awhich' simulate the units of the structure it is desired to imitate, whether the same ,be

shingle or tile. /This form of the tradear-- ticle not only renders its production un necessarily expensive, but renders the `article less desirable in that the sheet does not ssess uniform strength throughout, and 1s pitted, which permits the accumulation of water at intervals -on the fabric, thus hastenino its. deterioration.

`f The object, therefore, of our present ,in-

ventionis the production of a trade article,

to wit, a construction material strip of uniform strength, ,increased weather and wearresistinlll properties, and having 'characteristics which adapt it ready to architectural ornamentation, and which can be produced at a minimum cost for labor and material.

To this end g our invention, generally v' stated, consists in a roofing fabric strip having the ortionintended to be exposed tothe weat erv protected by an-exposed embedded ygrit layer distributed in spaced tess ellae alternating with-uncovered contrast- T ereare' other, minor, features of 1n- 4venton, all as will hereinafter more fully ...up f f a en, .thev drawang'chosen for the purpose of illust-mll@ .oillnvelltiom the scope whereof ls'ponted'outin the-claims, Figure 1 Aillusthecenstructon material' strip inv the preferredlfornagthat i."'to' say, of double width to better adapt it for reeling and covering for shipment. Fig. 2 illustrates the single width strip in one of the forms in which it may be advantageously utilized either as roofing or siding. Fig. 3 illustrates one method of applying the construction strips, as such, to a structure, in utilizing the same either as roofing or as siding. Fig. 4 is a detail transverse section, taken on the line 4 4, Fig. l; Fi 5 is a view corresponding to Fig. 4, but lllustrating a modification of our invention. Fig. 6 illustrates a grid or stop-out sheet of the configuration used in surfacing the construction material shown in Figs. l, 2 and 3 of the drawing.

Like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur.

We -Will now proceed to describe our invention more fully so that others skilled in the art to which it appertains may apply the same.

A strip of roofing felt of suitable Width to accommodate the design or configuration of the surfaced portion A plus the width of the unsurfaced or lap portion B adjacent thereto isrequired, as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing, 'but for purposes o-f convenience in manufacturing and shipping, a strip of twice said width, as shown in Fig. l of the drawing, is preferably selected. This strip of roofing felt, either single/or double width as the case may be, is saturated with suitable waterproofing material and coated .with asphalt as in the manner now practised in the manufacture of ready roofing fabrics. In applying the coating of asphalt vor like substance, and previous to the application of the surfacing material, strands of wire or fiat metal 1 may if desired be embedded at intervals in the asphalt coating. As the strip of feltor other foundation material comes from the asphalt bath or coating, machine it may be, and preferably is, led under a scraper which is so adjusted with reference to the non-surfaced portion B of the strip as to remove therefrom all or any desired part of the asphalt coating. As will hereinafter appear the scraper is preferably arranged so as to cause the asphalt coating to taper orj diminsh in-thickness from the surfaced portion A of the sheet toward the line a: which corresponds to the margin adjacent to the unsurfaced or lap portion of the individual strips into which the sheet of double width illustrated in Fig. 1 is designed to be divided. While the coating of asphalt on the fabric is in the proper ,condition to receive the surfacing material of mica, sand, gravel or the like, the strip is covered, at one margin in case of a sin le width strip or at both margins in case oa d ouble width strip,by a grid or stopout sheet C which corresponds in form to the pattern of surface material desired at the margin or margins of the strip. Y While so covered thestrip passes'beneath the grit hopper which deposits the surfacing material on the uncovered portions of the surface of the stri From the grid or stopout, or when the grid or stop out has been removed the strip passes to rolls .which press the surfacing material into the coated marginal surface or surfaces of the fabric, causing the displaced coating material of asphalt to extrude and fill up the intervals between the surfacing material thus obtaining a substantially level weather surface, the embedded grit causing the extruded or displacedcoating material to pass into the unsurfaced intervals thus insuring the uniform strength of the fabric throughout.

- The design of the grid is not material and, therefore, it may be of any desired pattern or configuration which will preserve unsurfaced division lines between the units of the design being provided for.

In the pr ent instance the marginal iigure chosen fdr purposes of illustrating our invention is one yof rectangular form, as indicated at 2, or rather a series of such rectangular forms arranged at regular intervals along the margin or margins of the strip and separated from each other by narrow spaces 3, to thus simulate the bricks in aAl wall or the exposed portions of overlapping shingles. l

The strips are to be utilized in strip form for either roofing or siding, the surfaced dcsign and the non-surfaced intermediate portions 3 of the coated fabric permit the dcsigns of adjacent strips to be arranged to break joints and thus simulate either shingles for roofing purposes, or bricks or blocks for siding purposes.

As shown in Fig.l 4, it is preferred to cup or incline the unsurfaced central ortion of the double width strip of felt or oundation 4 to thus cause the individual strips into which the double strip is separated along the longitudinal line a to have taperinglap edges or lap margins 5. When foundation material thus tapered is employed, the surface of such tapering portion 1s preferably scraped substantially free of the asphalt coating in the course of manufacture while the asphalt coating is preferably gradually increased in thickness, as at 6, until it is of the desired thickness vto retain the surfacing material 2. In this form of construction the wires or stiffeners 1, which are embedded in the asphalt coating, preferably terminate, as shown, at the beginnmg of the tapering portion 5 of the felt or foundation mater1al.`

q/ In the modified form of construction illustrated in Fig. 5, in which the felt or foundabedded in the asphalt coating, extend to or substantially to the center of tle sheet, the

asphalt being tapered or diminished in thickness, asat 7, 7, from the surfacing material 2 in opposite directions toward the division line a of the double width sheet. When the double sheet is separated along the cent1-al line (reach of the individual strips thus formed has an unsurfaced, tapered, marginal portion 7, as will be readily un derstood. The tapering ofthe felt and asphalt not only effects an economy in these materials, but results in afording a better contact between the overlappingportions of the strips as well as in'eliminating any sharp turns or bends incident to the covering of one strip with another.

In case a double width strip as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing is produced, which, as before noted, is the preferred form, a slight `cut at mid-width and longitudinally of the strip is made, as indicated at a. Such out, while of sufficient depth to insure the easy separation of the fabric by force, should not be sufficiently deep to permit accidental separation of the strips during the normal operations of rolling and covering vthe strips for shipment.

In order to prevent the adherence of the fabric if the same is to be formed into a roll for shipment, either of several well known plans may be ado ted. For instance, the non-surfaced margin of the strip may be dusted or it may be covered with tissue paper as is now commonly done for a like purpose.

When utilized in strip form, as is preferred, the strips may be applied lengthwise or vertically of the structure covered thereby (from peak to eaves in roofing), and may be secured in the usual Way by nails and cement, thus facilitating and cheapening the cost of application to buildings.

In preparing for shipment, as an article of trade, the strips may be rolled and cov-` ered as in the case of ready roofing sheets, and the labor and cost of crating and boxing requiredy for shipment of articlesV such a shingles, etc., may thus be avoided in construction material embodying our invention.

Furthermore, there is a material saving of asphalt and grit or surfacing material in the manufacture of the article in strip form rather than in the unit form of shingles, tiles, or the like.

We claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a roofing fabric strip comprised of an asphalt coated fabric having the portion intended to be exposed to the weather protected at intervals by exposed embedded grit distributed in spaced tessellae alternating with the exposed asphalt coated surface of the fabric.

2. As an article of manufacture a roofing fabric strip comprised of an asphalt coated fabric having the portion intended to be exposed to the weather protected at intervals by exposed embedded grit distributed in spaced tessellae alternating with narrow exposed portions of the coated surface of the fabric.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN R. POWELL. BENJAMIN Gr. CASLER. Witnesses as to the signature of John R. Powell:

C. T. HEXDUKER, ROY J. MAsoN. Witnesses as to the signature of Benjamin G. Casler: Y

SPINER B. PERRIN, MARGARET MAHONEY. 

